Becca --  

Following up on David Harvey's remarks, I'd like to
second his point that including equipment that is
being loaned for demonstrations and parades in the
collections policy of your museum will lead to a
tangle of liability and responsibility issues.

Standards for the care and use of these items will be
different than those which apply to the institution's
permanent collections so why confuse things.

Address the "donated" which are not really donated
items in a loan policy to cover the periodic or
semi-permanent presence of the pieces of equipment at
your site. 

An events policy for the parades and demonstrations
can address the issues for items that are on site
innfrequently. 

Either the objects are being donated in which case
ownership is transferred to Santa Fe Trail Center by
deed of gift, accessioned into your collection and
treated according to your policies, or they are being
loaned for specified periods of time or specific
events.

Regarding you questions:

> What if the donor passes on, what is the disposition
> of the artifact? Do we allow descendents to use the
> artifacts in perpetuity? Does the artifact move
> to the permanent collection? What if we do not want
> the artifact in the permanent collection?
 

If the State of New Mexico has an abandoned cultural
property statute, you can follow its provisions in
these matters.  In Wisconsin, the institution is not
required to keep the item that has been determined to
be "abandoned."  The legislation also permits the
establishment of title and formal accessioning into
the collection.  I believe a reasonable effort to
contact the "donor" or heirs must be made but, if
there is no response, the item is yours to dispose or
keep.

I'd recommend you check with your insurance agent and
seek legal advice on the liability issues and have
loan agreements drawn up for each specific item being
used.  

Have you tried contacting larger institutions with
living history museums?  The Wisconsin Historical
Society operates an outdoor museum - Old World
Wisconsin - which hosted an annual exhibit of working
harvesting equipment in the fall.  For many years the
Society's Circus World Museum showed off their
incredible collection of circus wagons in an annual
parade through downtown Milwaukee.  Their policies
should be helpful.  

Judy Turner
Whitefish Bay, WI


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